Cable Asylum: REVIEW: DIY by Jon Risch CC89259 Cable by agram

Model:	CC89259
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$ ridiculously low compared to mf'g
Description:	Unbelievable speaker cable for DIY'ers
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by agram ( A ) on June 13, 2002 at 18:34:23
IP Address: 206.112.72.3

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for the CC89259

I've lived with JR's recipe cables for about two months now. I waited a year before constructing the cables...why I waited so long, I'll never know.
The construction recipe is easily obtained: do a search for cc89259 and look up Jon Risch's website. Obtain Belden's 89259 teflon coax (got mine from Anixter.) The construction is basically to "cross connect" the center of the coax pairs to the other's shield, twist, hold in place with heatshrink, and terminate as desired. You'll wind up with aprox 13 ga cabling. Jon graciously gives construction details and photos I CAN'T THANK JON ENOUGH for putting up with all my emails, questions, etc as I went through this process.
My equipment is all Linn (see my system below for details) that leaves me no choice to terminate except for banana plugs. I wanted good quality locking ones but didn't want to pay the "WBT" price. I settled on some gold plated locking bananas from The Parts Connection that had their Assemblage (read in Sonic Frontiers) brand. They were a screw in style, so I removed the screw and soldered with Kester Silver solder. All other soldering to make the cross connections were done with the same solder. Since I'm actively biamped, I had to make four pairs of 18' each. It took me the better part of a weekend to make them taking a lot of heatshrink to "keep" the twist from unraveling and my limited soldering skills. Everything was checked with a continuity tester, the terminations were de-oxed, Pro Golded and ready to go.
Bear in mind that my comments are compared to the Linn k-400 speaker wire that my Linn dealer sold me many years ago. I don't have the time or money to wheel "the wire of the month" in and out of my system.
MY results to MY ears in MY system are as follows: The wire is phenominal to say the least. Better everything, but here's a few specifics. There's more detail as an example I'd play Janis Ian's "Breaking Silence" CD track 11 "Some People's Lives" that's purported to be recorded live to two track. At the very beginning she takes a breath in before the song even starts. I may have heard it before but never noticed it (with my old cabling.) She sounded like she was really in the room (that raise the hair on the back of your neck factor.) Soundstage: not only width and depth but also heighth increased. I attribute that to more detail. The wire sounded good during initial listening with very little break in time except for the bass. I was concerned but after a few weeks the bass tightened up too. Playing Victor Wooten's "A show of Hands" the bass guitar "growls" at me and has better pitch definition.
I wish I had a chance to compare it to some favorably rated cables like Analysis Plus Ovals etc, but I couldn't be more satisfied with this cable.
If your sitting on the fence or don't want to rub your fingers raw making the braided cat 5 recipes, this is a great cable to make. I can't see how you can go wrong with them.. They're in my system to stay for quite some time, as I have other "areas" of my system I want to upgrade....hmm

Product Weakness: A little on the stiff side but not too bad. Doesn't have that audiophile "hightech" look, but hey, you soon forget that after you listen to them!!!
Product Strengths: Little break in needed, great detail...a relaxed sound they seem to "breathe" easier. Great bang for the buck

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	2 Linn LK100's actively biamped
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Linn Wokanda
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Linn Mimik w/ ART DI/O dac, Rega Planar 3 w/ Linn K-9 cartridge
Speakers:	Linn Tukans
Cables/Interconnects:	Diy 89259 IC's
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Mostly rock, blues & Jazz
Room Size (LxWxH):	10' x 11' x 14'
Room Comments/Treatments:	two jr cheap and dirty diy traps
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 mo's
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	A little on the stiff side but not too bad. Doesn't have that audiophile "hightech" look, but hey, you soon forget that after you listen to them!!!
Product Strengths:	Little break in needed, great detail...a relaxed sound they seem to "breathe" easier. Great bang for the buck